Whether in the basement or the shed, there’s almost always a corner where that one spider lurks. Is it always the same one? And: How old do spiders actually get? PETBOOK editor and biologist Saskia ...

Spider web “decorations” may help arachnids to pinpoint the location of their captured prey, suggests a study. The “extra touches” to intricate webs - known as stabilimenta - enable the eight-legged ...

Spider silk is a protein fiber that forms tough, crystal-like sheets. A spider makes several silk types in different glands, then pulls a liquid mixture through microscopic spigots on the spinnerets, ...

A northern St Andrew’s cross female spider in Australia building a web with X-shaped stabilimenta seen radiating from the centre. Credit: Summerdrought (CC BY-SA) After a spider finishes weaving its ...

For decades, arachnologists debated the actual purpose of stabilimenta, a special thread spiders weave into their webs. Now, Italian researchers have finally cracked the case. They ventured into the ...

A new study suggests that certain spider web decorations help a spider figure out where prey has hit the web. The effect shows up as a small time advantage and, more importantly, as vibrations ...

A new study in PLoS One has revealed that the mysterious silk decorations in some spider webs may be sophisticated tuning devices that enhance the spider’s ability to locate its next meal by ...

A silver Argiope spider in a spiderweb with stabilimenta. Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons When imagining a spider web, chances are most people envision a typical spiral, wheel-shaped ...

Hanging by a thread: Wasp spiders, Argiope bruennichi, are known to incorporate so-called “stabilimenta” into their web structure, but the function of these “extra touches” has remained unknown.

Sardinian spiders are decorating their webs with elaborate patterns, baffling scientists for years. New research suggests these 'stabilimenta' aren't just for show but act as acoustic architecture, ...